Review Of "Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor"

824 words - 3 pages

Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor

Have you ever heard the expression "love hurts"? Sometimes it's the things that we want most that can hurt us. In "Television Addiction Is No Mere Metaphor", an article published in Scientific American on February 23, 2002 by Robert Kubey and Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, we see how this expressions meaning has some truth to it. The things that we are addicted to are not necessities but are desires instead. Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi give the best example when they state that no one has to drink alcohol yet they do and in doing so become alcoholics. Though identifying an addiction is easy when one is analyzing someone else. It's not as easy when it's happening to you.

You can be addicted to just about anything. Kubey and Csikszentmihalyi give the examples of compulsive gambling and sex obsessions. Although you wouldn't believe it, sometimes you can be addicted to something and not even know it. Take something you probably do everyday, like watching television. Most people will tell you that at some point during their day they stop what they are doing and make time to watch television. Society pokes fun at these types of people so we never like to look at ourselves as one of them.

To this day people are still studying the effects of television on people. Some will argue that watching violent television will make you act more violent. This argument has been going on for years. So what defines an addiction? Psychologists and psychiatrists formally define substance dependence as a disorder characterized by criteria that include spending a great deal of time using the substance; using it more often than one intends; thinking about reducing use or making repeated unsuccessful efforts to reduce use; giving up important social, family or occupation activist to use it; and reporting withdrawal symptoms when one stops using it (Kubey & Csikszentmihalyi, 2002, p. 1). Sound a little too familiar? Chances are that if you watch television, this might ring a bell. You shouldn't have to quit watching television. You shouldn't feel like watching television is wrong either. Used correctly, television can be a good thing. Many people watch television as a way to temporarily distract their minds, kind of to give their minds a "break." It only becomes a problem when...

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